We live our lives in a binary fashion. At any one time we’re either awake, adding to our list of experiences, or we’re asleep, resting and dreaming. These two states of consciousness—on and off—coincide with the two main parts of a 24 hour period: day and night, light and dark. Or that’s at least how it’s supposed to work.

The truth is, most people, most of the time have no problems going to sleep at night and waking up, for the first time since going to bed, about eight hours later, ready for the new day ahead. But some people, a lot of the time, struggle with sleep in a big way. Their sleep pattern changes nightly, they toss and turn for hours while wide awake. They are, by definition, insomniacs. Others don’t suffer quite the same kind of nightly torment. Instead, they sometimes get to sleep fine, but at other times really struggle to go to sleep, or stay asleep once they’ve nodded off.

Whichever of these two broad categories you personally fit into—a hardcore insomniac or a somewhat troubled sleeper—one thing’s for sure: having problems maintaining a normal, relaxed sleep pattern is not a good thing. It’s a downright pain, in fact, not least because of the stress and tiredness it can cause and keep causing for as long as the problem persists.

‘Insomnia’ is Latin for ‘no sleep’...

...so it’s the word we’ll be using from this point onwards to represent any and all problems you could have getting to sleep and staying asleep for the whole night.

It’s important to realize at this early stage that insomnia is very rarely a serious health problem for those who suffer from it.

Most insomniacs, and we’re talking tens of millions worldwide, experience primary insomnia which, as we’ll cover in more detail soon, is not caused by an underlying medical problem, serious or otherwise. It’s this kind of insomnia, the most common form and what you’re most likely to be experiencing, that we’re going to concentrate on most. As you’ll see, primary insomnia is something that can often be massively improved or even totally eradicated from a person’s life given the right application of the right knowledge. And that’s what you’re going to be given: the best advice for improving or getting rid of insomnia naturally, with no drugs or medical treatments.

Our first stop on the road to easy, uninterrupted sleep is sleep itself: what it is, why we need it and what can stop you from getting enough of it and suffering from sleep deprivation.